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Securities Litigation, Illegal investments

The Securities Act, c. V-1.1, contains a number of provisions aimed at protection investors and the general public.

Specifically, sections 187 to 213 of the Securities Act contain the penalties and prohibitions of this legislation and create a number of infractions for which a person or company can be accused of. For example:

Not providing a prospectus;

Illegally acting as a securities broker;

Insider trading;

Fraudulently, unfairly, and improperly influencing the market value of a security;

Misrepresentations and misleading information in a prospectus or offering memorandum.

This list is not exhaustive. They are merely some of the main infractions that commonly lead to penal accusations brought forward by the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF).

The Securities Act also provide conservatory measures (s. 249), such as measures designed to prevent assets from being dilapidated from bank accounts during the course of an investigation.

In this situation, the AMF will request a “freeze order” from the Bureau de decision et de revision (BDR). The BDR is an administrative tribunal specialized in financial transactions.

Our expertise

Our law firm is able to offer counsel and expertise in the event of criminal accusations brought forward in the Court of Québec or the BDR.